During Monday’s presidential debate, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton battled over trade policy, jobs, and fact-checking and plans on each others’ websites.
Trump asked, “Hillary, I just ask you this. you’ve been doing this for 30 years. Why are you just thinking about these solutions right now? For 30 years you’ve been doing it, and now you’re just starting to think of solutions.
Clinton responded, “Well, actually, I have thought about this quite a bit.” Trump answered, “Yeah, for 30 years.”
Clinton then stated, “[W]ell, not quite that long. I think my husband did a pretty good job in the 1990s. I think a lot about what worked, and how we can make it work again.”
Trump countered, “Well, he approved NAFTA, which is the single worst trade deal in this country.”
She answered, “Incomes went up for everybody. Manufacturing jobs went up also in the 1990s, if we’re actually going to look at the facts. When I was in the Senate, I had a number of trade deals that came before me, and I held them all to the same test, will they create jobs in America, will they raise incomes in America, and are they good for our national security? Some of them I voted for. The biggest one, a multinational one known as CAFTA, I voted against, and because I hold the same standards as I look at all of these trade deals. But, let’s not assume that trade is the only challenge we have in the economy. I think it is a part of it, and I’ve said what I’m going to do. I’m going to have a special prosecutor. We’re going to enforce the trade deals we have, and we’re going to hold people accountable. When I was Secretary of State, we actually increased american exports globally, 30%. We increased them to China, 50%. So I know how to really work to get new jobs and to get exports that help to create more new jobs.”
Trump then said, “You haven’t done it in 30 years or 26 years or –.” Clinton cut in, “I’ve been a Senator, Donald, and I have been a Secretary of State, and I have done a lot.”
Trump objected that “Your husband signed NAFTA, which was one of the worst things that ever happened to the manufacturing industry.” Clinton responded, “Well, that’s your opinion.”
Trump continued, “NAFTA is the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere, but certainly ever signed in this country, and now, you want to approve Trans-Pacific Partnership. You were totally in favor of it. Then you heard what I was saying how bad it is, and you said, I can’t win that debate, but you know that if you did win, you would approve that, and that will be almost as bad as NAFTA.”
Clinton disagreed, stating that she was against TPP once it was finally negotiated, and the terms were laid out. Trump cut in, “You called it the gold standard. … You said it’s the finest deal you’ve ever seen, and then you heard what I said about about it, and all of a sudden you were against it.”
Clinton responded, “Well, Donald, I know you live in your own reality, but that is not the facts. The facts are, I did say, I hoped it would be a good deal, but when it was negotiated, which I was not responsible for, I concluded it wasn’t. I wrote about that.”
Trump then asked, “So is it President Obama’s fault? is it President Obama’s fault?” Clinton answered that there are “different views about what’s good for country,” she then turned to her plan for “new jobs, with rising incomes, investments, not in more tax cuts, that would add $5 trillion to the debt.”
Trump objected that she had no plan, Clinton answered, “I have written a book about it. It’s called ‘Stronger Together.'”
After Clinton touted her plan and contrasted the outlooks given by people who had looked at the two, Trump stated that Clinton would “approve one of the biggest tax increases in history. You are going to drive business out. Your regulations are a disaster, and you’re going to increase regulations all over the place. And by the way, my tax cut is the biggest since Ronald Reagan. I’m very proud of it. It will create tremendous numbers of new jobs. but regulations, you are going to regulate these businesses out of existence.”
Moderator Lester Holt tried to move on, but Clinton objected that this couldn’t “be left to stand.” She then directed people to her website’s real-time fact-checker. Trump responded to visit his site as well. Clinton then maintained that her plan wouldn’t add “a penny to the debt, and your plans would add $5 trillion to the debt. What I have proposed would cut regulations, and streamline them for small businesses. What I have proposed would be paid for by raising taxes on the wealthy, because they have made all the gains in the economy, and I think it’s time that the wealthy and corporations paid their fair share to support this country.”
Holt tried to move on again, but Trump objected that Clinton would raise taxes by $1.3 trillion, and “It’s no different than this. She’s telling us how to fight ISIS, just go to her website, she tells you how to fight ISIS on her website. I don’t think general Douglas MacArthur would like that too much.”
After Holt tried to move on, Clinton responded, “At least I have a plan to fight ISIS.” Trump objected, “No, no, you’re telling the enemy everything you want to do. … No wonder you’ve been fighting ISIS your entire adult life.” Clinton countered that she wasn’t telling ISIS everything she wanted to do and stated, “the fact-checkers, get to work.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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